My Daughter is Pain Free--Paul St. John, Neuromuscular Therapist

[susanfrey]

My 17 year old daughter is in the process of receiving treatments from Paul St. John, the pioneer of St. John Neuromuscular Therapy. She is nearing the end of her treatments and is "just about PAIN FREE " because of this man who is truly a miracle worker.

After being in chronic pain for over four years which started (in her scapula area) shortly after shoulder surgery in March of 2001 to repair a torn labrum (she was a competitive swimmer), she now has her life back again. When I say that she has her life back again, that is really an understatement. I have my happy, optimistic, positive, loving daughter back again, and Paul St. John is THE reason for that. She had bouts of scapular winging and shoulder pain for over four years and this past summer, the pain got rapidly and progressively worse--she was in pain from her neck down to her quadricep and spent most of her time in bed.

We have been to THE top orthopedists and neurologists in the Baltimore and Tampa Bay areas and have had diagnoses ranging from "there is nothing wrong with her" to incredibly, "she is in the process of developing Muscular Dystrophy". A few doctors recommended a muscle transfer and one a scapular fusion. As their diagnoses and explanations just didn't make sense to me, I looked for alternatives as there was no way that I would let someone do an invasive surgery on my daughter when I didn't have any confidence in what they were saying.

I took her to Paul St. John in St. Petersburg, Florida for a consultation in early October and he determined that, at one time she had a tear to her Leveator Scapula Muscle (we've pretty much determined that it was due to the surgeon tearing that muscle in March of 2001) which triggered a chain reaction from her shoulder girdle down to her quadricep with muscles strangling nerves.

As soon as Paul examined her, he assured me that he could "fix her" and told me that he has cured countless numbers of people with Scapular Winging, BPI-Erbs Palsy, Peripheral Neuropathy and all types of Neuropathies. He has an international clientele; people fly in from all over the world to receive treatment from him.

There are really no words to describe how wonderful he is. We went to a multitude of doctors who didn't care about my daughter's pain and who wanted to immediately dismiss me when I asked questions and then followed up with more questions when their responses didn't make any sense. In the instant that I met Paul, I knew he was different and just knew that he could help my daughter. Not only is he sympathetic to Heather, he is empathetic as well. He was in three major accidents (you can read his story on his website), one in which he was shot out of a helicopter in Vietnam (he was a Green Beret medic) and suffered for years with chronic pain. He then started to resarch the relationship between muscles, soft tissues and nerves (orthopedists only work with bones and nerves)and taught someone how to treat him. As a result, he is pain free.

His website address is www.stjohn-clarkptc.com and the phone number is 727 347-4325. Fortunately for me, St. Pete is just a two hour drive so geography is not an issue; however, after seeing what he has done for my daughter and others, I would fly to the moon to see him. I've discussed this message board with him and he advised me that, for the majority of you who are out-of-towners, he would suggest that if at all possible, to make an appointment to see him in St. Pete as he is an excellent diagnostician and could best determine a treatment plan. If you are unable to continue to see him for treatment in St. Pete, he would then refer you to a St. John-trained therapist in your area and would personally call that therapist and advise how to treat your condition.

If you would like to e-mail me, my address is soyasolutions@yahoo.com. I would be more than happy to talk to you as well as our lives have changed so much because of this man. I've seen what pain has done to my daughter and would do anything that I can to help anyone out there.

Susan

[bellis]

WOW! What a great story to read. I'd go anywhere & do anything to be painfree. Feb. will be 10 years of hell. My neurologist told me 4 years ago never to have surgery. I'll check out the web site. Thanks bob

[susanfrey]

Bob,

It is so hard to believe that in just 10 weeks, Paul cured my daughter of 4 1/2 years of pain.

I'm so sorry for what you're going through and know that it will be worth your while to see Paul. I don't know what else to say, except that it's as though he performed a miracle. The man is truly amazing.

There was no way that, with so many conflicting medical opinions, I was going to let anyone do any type of invasive surgery on my daughter with a "chance" that she would get better. Paul has fixed so many people who have had unnecessary surgeries that it's horrifying. He, like your neurologist, told us in Heather's initial consult that the surgeries may give some relief but it's only temporary and the pain will eventually return as they don't fix the cause, they fix the symptoms. These doctors were suggesting horrific surgeries to treat her scapular winging which was a symptom, not the cause. The cause was a torn leveator scapular muscle that every one of the "medical professionals" missed. Had they examined her whole body which includes the muscles, not just the bones and nerves, they would have found the cause and saved her from over four years of pain.

The good news however is that she is now pain free and has her life back again. Feel free to e-mail if you have any questions. I would be glad to talk to you as well.

Good luck with everything.

Susan
soyasolutions@yahoo.com

[riggo44]

That is incredible! Thank you SO much for sharing this information. You have just made my holiday season. Interesting--my wife found Paul St. John on the internet and questioned my daughter's orthopedist and he told her the it would do no good to take my daughter there for her BPI. I can't believe that he successfully treats BPI. Thank you again.

[Christopher]

Susan,
Thank you for posting this! I wish it wasn't all the way across the country (I'm in Los Angeles) but pain can be a great motivator! I'll have to look into the possibility of finding a local practitioner.

Thanks Again,
Chris

[susanfrey]

Chris,

You're welcome. You're so right, pain can be a great motivator. After seeing my daughter in pain for 4 1/2 years and then taking her to Paul St. John (and finding out that she had two unnecessary surgeries), it's been worth the time and money as he cured her pain in just 10 weeks. After seeing what he has done for Heather, I would mortgage my home to relieve her of her pain. The man is incredible.

We are heading to St. Pete tomorrow for Heather's treatment and, if you like, I can ask Paul if he knows of a good, St. John-trained Neuromuscular Therapist in your area. He will only suggest someone who has been through all of his seminars and that he feels can help you. As I mentioned in the above post, Paul would prefer to see you first as he is THE best diagnostician and would then refer you to a Neuromuscular Therapist in your area and he would advise that therapist how to treat you.

If you would like to speak to Paul, the phone number in his office is 727 347-4325. His assistant's name is Mary Beth; you could leave a message with her to have Paul call you. Please tell her that I referred you as I told both her and Paul that they may be getting calls from people on this board.

My e-mail address is soyasolutions@yahoo.com and my phone number is 239 898-8505. Please feel free to call me as, after seeing how Paul cured Heather's pain in 10 weeks, I would do anything that I can to help anyone.

Good luck,
Susan Frey

[susanfrey]

Riggo44,

I had the same type of conversation with my daughter's orthopedist in late September. I scheduled a consultation with him as I was so frustrated as we had seen a physical medicine specialist who did Nerve Conduction Studies and an EMG the prior week and the results just didn't make sense to me, --the physical medicine specialist was telling me Long Thoracic Neuropathy, "possible" damage to the Serratus Anterior with other muscles "possibly" being affected with an an "abnormal and incomplete study". The conversation that I had with the physcial medicine specialist was laughable (and scary, he is THE best in his field in this area), he couldn't answer my questions and the more questions I asked, the more irritated he became. I told him that I was getting nowhere in the conversation and left.

Anyway, in late September, I then had the consultation with the orthopedist and told him that I had scheduled an appointment in early October with Paul St. John. That orthopedist (again THE top in his field in this area) told me that Paul St. John couldn't help her, that I would be wasting my time and money taking her to Paul as Paul was "just a massage therapist."

Thank God I didn't listen to that doctor and took her to Paul on October 3rd and, with one treatment a week for the past 10 weeks, she is now pain free.

My friend who is a doctor (he's trauma surgeon) and a former football player at the University of Oklahoma was cured of chronic knee pain by Paul. He was told by several orthopedists that he needed a double knee replacement.

He has cured so many people with BPI; so many of whom were in accidents and who had unsucessful surgeries as, after the surgeries, they still didn't have use of their arm or hand.

If you need any more information or would like to e-mail or talk to me, feel free to contact me as I could go on and on about the countless number of people that Paul has cured after being told by doctors that there was no hope, and even worse, but being unnecessarily operated on and still being in pain.

Good luck to you.

Susan
soyasolutions@yahoo.com
239 898-8505

[lizzyb]

Hi Susan,

Please don't take this the wrong way, but after reading a few of your messages on here, I cannot see anywhere that your Daughter has a traumatic brachial plexus injury, and that is primarily why this particular message board is here; for discussing these particular injuries (TBPI's)I apologise most profusely in advance if I have got this wrong or misread your messages.

Traumatic brachial plexus injuries, which are often total and irreparable, can cause extremely severe and unrelenting neuropathic pain which is almost impossible to treat at any level.

More than 90% of people who have a TBPI have this type of pain, and it can have devastating effects on all who live with it.

Most, if not all of us that suffer from it would do anything to be rid of it, even to the point of amputating the arm, which needless to say will not cure this particular type of pain. We have several very good descriptions of the pain on the TBPI Group website http://www.tbpi-group.org

As I say, please do not take this post the wrong way, but I felt it needed pointing out that neuropathic or central pain is very different from neuromuscular pain wich I believe (after looking at his website) is the kind of pain Mr St. John is involved with.

I can see that this sort of massage therapy would perhaps be beneficial to someone with scapular winging, and could possibly help as a kind of relaxation therapy for other types of injury.

I do appreciate why you posted originally, and that you wish to share hoping it will help others, but I also feel that you possibly don't understand the nature, causes and severity of neuropathic pain combined with a TBPI, but please feel free to correct me if I am wrong, and I will happily apologise.

I also felt that you would definitely not want to give anyone false hope of a cure for TBPI pain, and this is the main reason why I am posting this.

Lizzyb

[punchy sue]

I too must put my two cents in. I was a certified massage therapist before my LTBPI and was taught by one of Paul St. John's original therapist. She traveled the country with him for years and now practices and teaches Neuromuscular and Cranial-Sacral Therapies. The 5 Principles of Paul St John's neuromuscular Therapy are:

1. Relieve Ischemia (lack of blood)


2. Release trigger points (muscle knots when pressed
refer pain to another area of the body)

3. Release nerve entrapment or compression

4. Address postural distortion

5. Correct biomechanical dysfunction (imbalance in
musculoskeletal structure which cause faulty
movement patterns

Being part of the massage therapy community, I have had all types of treatment. None of them can fix spinal cord nerve avulsion pain because the nerve root is pulled out of the spine, cerebral spinal fluid continually leaks from the hole and the pain is being generated in the hypothalamus in the brain and not from the muscles or nerves in the arm.

Massages are great and Neuromuscular treatment is very effective on the above listed issues. Unfortunately, TBPI does not fall under those conditions. Hate to burst your bubble, but there is no miracle cure for central nerve pain. I'm glad your daughter has found relief, but I just don't want any of my fellow BPI-ers to have false hope. Plus your post seems like an advertisement or a tv infomercial.

LOVE SUSAN